Because You're Prettylicious!

"You create beauty with your attitude, your behavior, and your actions."

Sooo deep. I can't fathom it. Haha! Well, it's more of the explanation for the concept of putting value to the beauty inside all of us (aka personality and character) instead of the beauty outside. We say, we can have them both! Because we're 'shallow' (no, not really), this entry will concentrate on the outside beauty. Hahaha! It's not rocket science nowadays to be beautiful in our physical appearance. Especially in Riyadh where salons and ladies centers are frolicking. But which is which? Which is a good salon? What about the affordable ones? Are there ladies centers that offer beauty and fitness services?

There are! And one of them is tucked in Building 7 of the Iskan Almaather Building (aka Kuwaiti Housing) near the intersection of Dabab and Al-Matther streets. The salon is located in front of the parking space just off Dabab (map below). 

Prettylicious Ladies Center might be the answer to our beauty and fitness problems. It's a one-stop place that offers beauty and spa services and fitness packages. It has a gym and also a place for aerobics classes. Granted that it's not as big and grand as most of the fitness centers in Riyadh, they're certainly more affordable! Also, with the smaller number of members, you'll feel right at home! All of their beauticians and fitness instructor are Filipinas too. 

The gym area

Prettylicious Salon has been in business for years. It's not exactly new and their space shows that but it does what it says it offers: good hair services and a fitness and aerobics center that can help you lose weight or tone your bodies. It's pretty much a straightforward and simple salon. A lounge welcomes guests while the rooms inside are divided into the aerobics room, the gym, the sauna/jacuzzi area, and the salon. 

Get your fit on!

I can totally hear the treadmills calling me.

The gym area is not too wide but it doesn't get too crowded so it's still conducive for your fitness regimen. You can use the exercise machines anytime you want if you're enrolled in their gym membership program.

The aerobics room 

Mirror mirror on the wall as walls.

You can use some balls! Haha!

The aerobics area is clean and has enough room for a fun and engaging class. They usually conduct two aerobics classes per day. Lockers are available for members too. Prettylicious offers a different membership for aerobics alone but you can combine both in their mixed membership package (rates, promos, and types below).

Time for some jacuzzi

The sauna

You can also relax in their sauna and jacuzzi. Pamper me time! Mix enrollees can avail of the jacuzzi and sauna twice a week for free! ;)

The salon area

Prettylicious Salon offers a lot of hair services like cuts, coloring, blow drying, and rebonding. The prices depend on the hair length. They also do hair styles and makeup for your special occasions. There's also a room for your waxing needs. Their spa list includes the usual mani and pedi and foot massage.

I had my hair trimmed when I visited and I must say that Edina, one of their hair stylists, did a good job. And she went beyond the call of duty when she blow dried by hair really, really well! When I stepped out of the salon, I felt like going to a party pronto because my curls were so perfectly in place. But then, I have no party to attend to that night. Hahaha! 

Prettylicious comes up with promos monthly. And look at their December promo! Sulit!

Sometimes, you create beauty with a good ladies center! ;) ~ Sundrenched

Prettylicious Ladies Center

Ground Floor, Building No. 7

ISKAN Almaather Building, Dabab Street

T: +966-11-466-0423

Opening times:

10AM to 10PM from Saturday to Thursday

1PM to 10PM on Fridays

Website: https://prettyliciousladiescenter.shutterfly.com

Map:

Pink always marks the spot.

Directions: 

If you're coming from King Fahd Road, take the roundabout (aka Cairo Square) to go to Khurais Road. Once you reach the intersection of King Fahd Medical City, turn right in Dabab Street and go straight. Stay on the right side (don't take the underpass). You'll find the Iskan housing on your right. Find number 7 and turn right towards the parking area. You'll find Prettylicious in your right. (It's always right huh! Hehe!)

The cluster of similar building is the ISKAN Housing aka Kuwaiti housing

Price List for Salon Services:

What would you like madame? ;)

Here's a Heads Up!

We've been hearing about Heads Up Salon for quite some time now so I decided to visit them one Thursday morning months ago for some nail pampering and eyebrow threading. The violet and white scheme of the salon is already evident in their signage outside. So it wasn't a surprise for me to see the violet interiors when I entered. I was greeted warmly by the staff, who were still getting ready when I arrived. Talk about being such an early bird. Excited ateh?!

The reception area, with outdated magazines to read

The waiting area

I think it's the massage chair that I loved the most in my experience with Heads Up. Haha. While sitting pretty and my nails being groomed by the efficient nail technician, I can feel the chair automatically kneading and massaging my back. It provided additional comfort and relief for my tired, stressed body. This is such a wonderful free service that I forgot I was there for a manicure and foot spa. 

The lovely massage chairs, haaaay...

My nail technician was gentle with my nails and cuticles. The foot spa entailed the usual foot soak, scrub and a little bit massage plus nail grooming. The soak and scrub were nothing special; you can even do it at the comfort of your homes. The foot spa was a little bit bitin, as most foot spas are. I mean, who can get enough of such a good thing? If it's possible, I would spend a day in a spa having my whole body subjected to all kinds of pampering. Wouldn't you? 

Heads Up Salon is where I get my eyebrow threading too. The ate who does this is very skilled with the thread. It's pretty much painless compared to other salons I've been in. She does the job fast and she listens to me when I say I don't want my eyebrows to be too thin. For SR30, I say it's worth it. 

The eyebrow and facial wax area | Various products

A friend was brave enough to try the Brazilian Wax in Heads Up. I cringe at the thought of this procedure because I cannot imagine the pain but she said it didn't hurt as much as she expected it to be but it does hurt. I actually tagged along weeks ago when she did her second Brazilian to hear her scream . This time, she wasn't that pleased with the wax used. It hurt and her attendant was a little bit less energetic and attentive but still trying her best.

The hair salon

What hair style will you be having today?

I'm sure you're dying to hear how my hair cut in Heads Up went. Unfortunately, I haven't been there for a haircut. You might be wondering why would I feature Heads Up without trying their hair cut first. That's like going to KFC without ordering their chicken. (Kung maka-relate sa food pa talaga?!) Well, their lone hair cutter was having her day-off so maybe next time. Have you had your hair cut in Heads Up Salon? Give us your feedback in our comment section, please. :)

The violet interiors

Heads Up offers hair coloring, hair treatments, nail designs, waxing, sugaring (halawa), bleaching, facials, massage, and make-up. Their prices are pretty much affordable when it comes to the standard fees of salons here in Saudi Arabia. Foot spa is SR120 while plain manicure is SR60. A haircut is SR50 to SR60 while hair color is SR200 up depending on the hair length.

Book an appointment by calling their number below so you won't have to wait that long in case the salon is busy or the personnel are on leave. Most of the staff are Filipinos.

It also amuses us when we enter a salon and they pretty much has a solid color theme. I was telling the fellow tarhas that when we open our own salon, it wouldn't be hard to guess what our chosen color is if that comes into fruition. ;) ~ Sundrenched

Heads Up Salon
Near RKH/Military Hospital and Al-Rajhi Supermarket
Suleimania, Riyadh
T: +966-1-476-1484

Red Carpet Beauties

AS MOST OF you know, ladies here in the Kingdom are all covered up in public. We're required to cover our hair (with our tarhas of course) and wear our abayas whenever we go out of our house. The idea of a beautiful woman isn't exactly glorified (and/or exploited) in this part of the world, but as young and sassy Pinays, you know we'd find loopholes to express our beauty one way or another. Whether it is underneath our tarhas and abayas or through this blog! You better know that we bring it. Can I get a B for Beautiful? Right on. ;)

So, how can ladies in this desert city be fab and stay fab? Well, there are plenty of ladies-only salons peppered throughout the town. If you're Filipino, chances are you get a regular home-service haircut/manicurist from fellow kabayans who do it for some extra income. But if you miss the hustle and bustle of your local beauty shop, fret not. There are lots to be found here. Though you might miss your regular gay hairdresser as all these salons are for women only. Nevertheless, you'd feel right at your feminine comfort zone with the sounds of snipping scissors, loud gusts from the blower, bubbles from the foot spa machine and the snickering between gossiping girlfriends.

Members of the Pink Tarha Team, along with other girlfriends decided to try out The Red Carpet Hair and Beauty salon. It is co-owned by a well-known Filipina entrepreneur here in Riyadh located in the Suleimaniah District. We have been hearing from our titas and other common friends that they have been to the place and they gave us enough good feedback to try it out for ourselves.

Now readers, you all know my birthday just came to pass... :P and it was before my birthday extravaganza that we opted to try out the salon. You know, to glam it up for an upcoming big day. So my friends and I set up an appointment via telephone and we arrived at the salon at around 5:30pm.

Reception area

Lounge area

A mini-snack bar, I suppose.

First thing I noticed was, "They don't have a red carpet!". Hahaha. You enter the salon here like you do a neighbor's house, via doorbell and intercom. When I arrived inside, I didn't personally feel like a "royal treatment" was headed my way (as described on their flyer). The salon looked like any ordinary hair salon in the Philippines. I wouldn't say that it looked like a glam spot on the LA strip. But I suppose the ambiance was welcoming enough not to intimidate potential customers. It was clean and quiet. A little house music wouldn't hurt in my opinion.

I was booked for a haircut and a facial while my girlfriends were still undecided on either getting a pedicure or threading for their eyebrows. I hadn't had a haircut since January and my hair has lost its shape and volume. According to the grapevine, the hairdressers that this salon hired were all trained or were previous employees of David's Salon in the Philippines.

Their styling trays were clean and organized.

Hair care products used are from L'Oreal and Wella.

The "spa" area where they do the facials and body massages.

Facial products used are from Nu Skin

Apart from the areas seen here, the salon also has a space for their foot spa/manicure/pedicure clients. They are also known in the Filipino community for adding nail decals to their polish and I have heard good things about their foot spas. In an interesting note, as one of my friends was getting her eyebrow threading done, we learned that they also do "Brazilian waxing". *wink wink*

I opted for a 'Galvanic Facial Spa' which is an upgrade from your regular facial where they use this special device and gel that is supposed to further energize the skin. The facial was painful as it should be when they pierce your pores to take out the bad stuff. I just chanted in my brain, "Pain is beauty...pain is beauty...pain is beauty". LOL.

Voila!

My hair all done and my skin is still glistening from the facial (with my friend, J).

The service was fair enough. I just think that they were a bit understaffed. The mini bar wasn't even stocked I guess because no one offered us to have some snacks or something. I was satisfied with my haircut, but it wasn't like a "Wow!" moment. The facial was good, but when I started asking the lady about the benefits of what she was doing/applying on me, all I got were generic answers. It would be beneficial if she educated me along the process so that I too, can care for my skin better.

Overall, the Red Carpet Hair and Beauty Salon offered what it could. We all came out of that salon looking better than we did going in, so that means they did their job right, right? Right.

So, if you are in Riyadh and have been long searching for a salon to treat yourself to...Or if you are an incoming OFW having withdrawal syndromes with your local beauty shop in the Philippines...worry no more. You can try The Red Carpet Hair and Beauty salon and see if it fits you. If not, then rely on your Pink Tarha Ladies to scout out more salons in this city in the days to come. :)

Cheers!
-ec-

The Red Carpet Hair and Beauty salon offers hair design and style, hair treatments, hair coloring, nail care and nail art, facial and body treatment, massages and waxing treatments.

Contact them at:
Near RKH/Military Hospital
Suleimaniah District
P.O. Box 64115
Riyadh 11536, KSA
T: +966-1-293-3497
M: +966-55-651-0758